My lecture this Thursday July 29th about the ‘Secrets of Great Portrait Photography’ at Adorama in New York City is nearly sold out, but I’m holding half a dozen seats for any of my blog or twitter followers. So if you’re can’t get in, let me know and I’ll try to get you in.
This is a new lecture with focus on all aspects of what it takes to create a great portrait, from concept to execution to post. Ways to give your portraits extra polish with production value that looks more expensive than it is. Emphasis will be placed on the ‘concepts of lighting’ that you can apply to your own work.
Hope to see you there…
Secrets to Great Portrait Photography
An Evening with Brian Smith

Thursday, July 29, 2010 5:30PM – 7:30PM
Price: $25.00
Registration deadline for this Special Event July 28, 2010
Each attendee will receive a $25.00 coupon at the Seminar in exchange for a copy of their registration receipt. The coupon will be valid for 30 days towards the purchase of any merchandise when presented at either Adorama’s retail store at 42 West 18th Street, New York, or for an online purchase at www.adorama.com
Event Description:
Great portraits capture the soul and spirit of your subject. This Special Event with celebrity portrait photographer Brian Smith will focus on ways of breaking down barriers and secrets of working quickly to capture the great portraits, whether you have minutes, hours, or days to get the shot. Brian will share the lessons he’s learned over the past 30 years as a top magazine portrait photographer capturing the faces of the famous, infamous and even the un-famous. He’ll break down the approach he uses on editorial, commercial and personal projects from concept to execution to post, on productions large and small. Simple choices in lighting can affect the mood of an image, so during this evening’s presentation, he will detail his problem-solving approach to lighting and how he customizes his lighting to a particular situation, using light to create bold iconic portraits on location. Brian will show you ways to remain fresh and passionate about your photography, and the evolutionary steps you can take to allow your personal style to evolve as you move your photography to the next level.

Special Event Sponsored by Adorama and Sony
Tagged as:
Adorama,
Brian Smith,
Secrets of Great Portrait Photography
by Brian Smith on July 24, 2010
in Athletes
I’m getting a bit weary of NBA greats Magic, Michael and Sir Charles whining about the Miami Heat’s Three Kings: D-Wade, King James and C-Bosh teaming up to play together. Magic keeps pointing out that he’d never have called up Larry Bird and asked him to come join the Lakers, somehow forgetting the fact that Showtime already had NBA All-Time Top-50 James Worthy at that position. And Magic, do you possibly remember that big fella named Kareem?
So Let’s break it down:
Magic won his rings with Kareem and Worthy.
Jordan won zero rings without Pippen.
Pippen won zero rings without Jordan.
And Charles, well, just zero rings period.
Excuse the collective memories of the NBAARP, all of them needed help to win it all. Now they just need help, well, remembering….
Besides that, what’s your message? “There ain’t no ‘T-E-A-M’ in ‘I’”
I’ll be one of the speakers at the Emerge Symposium in Miami this September 10-12th at the fabulous Mayfair Hotel & Spa in Coconut Grove. I’m going to be speaking and working with participants all day Saturday, September 11th.

Emerge Photography Symposium is geared towards photographers who advance best through small group, hands-on collaborative learning.
This event provide learning channels via three components:
– Instruction lectures by award-winning industry professionals
– Intensive hands-on photo shoot sessions
– Round table critique discussions of your images
Emerge Photography Symposium provides value by way of intimate interaction and a personalized experience. Listen to the the stories and experiences of industry professionals. Learn about how they developed their careers and ask questions about key pieces of information they wish they knew when they were starting out, or advice on how you can improve your craft and techniques.
Let me repeat: There will be no large conference room hall. Brian Smith, Tony Yang and Norman Chow certainly will not have microphones. It’s personal. It’s about you, me, your future new friends, a wealth of knowledge, and an awesome weekend in Miami, FL.
Come with your brain ready to soak, a prepared trigger index finger and a laptop to show off your new skills.
Early-bird registration will close Friday, August, 6, 2010. Hurry! Save $150 if you register before July 30, 2010!!!

Tagged as:
Brian Smith,
Celebrity Portrait Photographer,
Emerge Photography Symposium,
Photography

Sony has launched it’s E-mount NEX-VG10E camcorder, the worlds’ first consumer-grade HD camcorder with interchangeable lenses. Although appearing under Sony’s Handycam brand, rather than Alpha, it retains a lot in common with the Alpha NEX series. It features the same 14.6MP Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor but is capable of recording 1080i video at a higher, 24mbps, bitrate. The NEX-VG10E also features an electronic viewfinder and ‘Quad Capsule Spatial Array Stereo Microphone’ that uses four microphone elements to provide better channel separation and cancel unwanted noise. In every other respect it is essentially a NEX 5, featuring the same user interface (though with more external controls) and both SD and MemoryStick storage. It will sold as kit with image-stabilized E18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OSS lens and will be available a suggested retail price of $2000.
* 14.2 effective megapixel ExmorTM APS HD CMOS sensor (19.5 times larger than conventional camcorder) for stunning HD movies with beautiful background defocus
* Accepts E-mount interchangeable lenses plus A-mount α DSLR lenses (via optional adaptor)
* High quality audio with Quad Capsule Spatial Array Stereo Microphone and external mic input
* 7.5cm (3 inch-type) Xtra Fine LCD and electronic viewfinder
Christmas came early to Miami Heat fans as the three Kings of Basketball D-Wade, LeBron and Chris Bosh settled into our little paradise of sand and sun! I still can’t believe this! Miami’s new Dream Team has a combined 17 All-Star appearances in the last six years. I’ve seen a lot of great basketball up close over the years. I was courtside in New Orleans when Jordan won his NCAA title and again when the Lakers’ Magic, Kareem and Worthy won two of their four titles, watching it from the best seat in the house and afterwards was caught in champaign crossfire between Magic and Riley. But I’ve never seen anything like this. Ever. Nobody has. Three superstars in their prime. Three superstars giving up money and putting ego aside to play for a championship. Welcome to Miami, LeBron and Chris. D-Wade, thanks for 7 great years…the best is yet to come!
Follow-up: Gotta love the IRONY of Yankees fans cries to break up the Miami Heat in the interest of parity for the sport…
Tagged as:
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D-Wade,
Dream Team,
Dwyane Wade,
Lebron James,
Miami Heat,
NBA,
Pat Riely